Aston Martin have continued their centenary celebrations by unveiling the DBR1 racer inspired CC100 Speedster at this weekends Nurburgring 24 hour race. It is stunning.

Just when you were thinking all Aston Martins looked the same, this gorgeous bit of kit shows up. It’s called the CC100 Speedster Concept, it’s a one off car built to celebrate Aston Martins 100th anniversary and would you just take a moment to look at it!

The brief, says Aston Martin exterior stylist Miles Nurnberger, “was simple, yet enormously testing: create something that reflects the 100 years of AM heritage and signals the future of the brand”. And to make the people of the interweb drool all over their computer keyboards, probably. As you can see, Mr. Nurnberger and Aston Martin design director Marek Reichmann haven’t exactly brought a dogs breakfast on wheels to this years Nurburgring 24 hour race.

Design inspiration came from the wonderfully cool DBR1 racer from 1959 that won at Le Mans and of course toughened out the grueling Nurburgring 1000 with Sir Stirling Moss at the wheel. The split cockpit, unique er, doorless doors, twin buttresses and even the color scheme are all design cues taken from classic Aston Martin racers. For the parade lap around the ‘Ring Aston Martin had Sir Stirling Moss drive his old DBR1 racer ahead of Aston chief Dr. Bez in the CC100 Speedster and a string of other jaw dropping Astons including the One-77 and DB5, apparently James Bond was around, too. It was a display so cool, it made Sweden look like an oven.

Mercifully, design inspiration for all the bits beneath the stunning carbon fiber exterior comes from the twenty first century. The CC100 Speedster uses the latest generation of Aston Martin 6.0liter V12 which delivers 555hp to the rear wheels via six-speed automated sequential manual gearbox. The chassis is based on the familiar VH (vertical horizontal) platform that underpins everything in the Aston range from the V8 Vantage to the Rapide and everything in between – we don’t count the pathetic Cygnet, obviously. As you’d imagine, the Speedster is quite speedy, 0-62mph takes just 4 seconds and it’ll go onto a limited top speed of 180mph – thank the slippery lightweight body for that.

The interior is of course really cool, but not in the same sumptuous way that makes other Astons so drool worthy. This is more stripped out racecar than luxuriously appointed and leather clad grand tourer, almost everything is bare carbon fiber. The lovely carbon fiber seats are upholstered in a mixture of beautiful leather and alcantara. Then there’s the highly simplistic central stack, which features five racecar-like toggle switches and the park, reverse, neutral, and drive buttons. There are no fancy clocks or useless sat-nav systems here, this car is all about driving and driving swiftly.

The steering wheel is a tasty carbon fiber item wrapped in alcantara, you sit looking at a color TFT screen instrument display and out over a long sculptured bonnet. Personally, I like the yellow highlights around the drivers pod, which aren’t mirrored on the passengers side, that tells you all you need to know about this car. It’s a very cool thing.

And all of this coolness could eventually make its way into future production Aston Martin models as well; because the current model lineup is lacking cool-factor, isn’t it? We’re told there are a few nifty design cues hidden away in this stunning body that could be part of a “potential future design direction”. Which can only be a good thing, surely.

Now, watch this awesome video showing the CC100 Speedsters birth…

What do you think of Astons new birthday present Carhooters? Let us know by tweeting us @CarhootsUK or leaving a comment below.